It is not always obvious what it is going to take to get a prospect to buy from you. Less experienced sales representatives often think that it is simply a question of price. The truth of the matter is that price is seldom the stumbling block, but rather the resistance to being forced to make a decision will generally be the cause.
Without resistance to buying there would be no need for sales representatives, and little need for a sales profession. While the lack of sales resistance may give a better feeling of security, resistance remains the most important hurdle every salesperson has to get over, under or around.
Some successful salespeople actually call objections "the salesperson's best friend." And although this may sound a little ridiculous, they point out that until you know what's keeping a prospect from buying, you can't bring up the right benefits and proof that minimize the resistance and lead the way to the sale.
How to Use Your Presentation to find the Resistance
However you feel about objections, you must know that it's better to avoid them than to overcome them later. That's why professional salespeople plan their presentations to include the answers and proofs they found will decrease their typical prospect's resistance. Here are some ways to gather and present this information.
Record your most typical objections. Don't trust your memory. Keep a written list of the objections that you have dealt with before, and ask your service provider for help with the problem questions.
The best way to avoid resistance from prospects is to anticipate their objections. And why not take advantage of the experience of others in your field? Other salespeople are excellent sources for this kind of information.
Sell the benefits. Example: Did you know that CrossCheck is the only Check Guarantee company in the industry to offer Bank Fee Reimbursement, Interest Payment until the claim is paid, and No Fault Approval and Claims Coverage.
Work these benefits and proofs into your sales presentation. If you've discovered that your prospects frequently ask about the size of the negative file that will be used for approval you might say, "Wouldn't you agree that more sales are more valuable than more declines?"
Set up your strategy so you will be able to handle objections not easily eliminated in your presentation. To accomplish this, be ready to use testimonials and specific cases that support your service and prove to your prospect that a possible objection is not valid. For example, "Mr. Anderson of Anderson Auto Supplies thought that the price was the most important thing to him, but once he used our service, he found that more approvals created more income. In addition he found that although overall he paid more than his previous service provider, it was well worth the gain in profits."
You can't expect to eliminate every objection that a customer may come up with. But you can be sure of closing more sales faster and easier if you take a little time to plan for objections, and watch for the Achilles heel so you can close.
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